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The digital marketing landscape is evolving quicker than ever
before. While print and more traditional mediums still have their
place, those who want to take their platforms to the next level
need to embrace the new digital landscape. And no platforms are
more influential to your business than the social media, including
Snapchat.

Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter are common social media

vehicles to advertise. However, because Snapchat is so new,
many businesses don’t know how or don’t want to leverage the
platform to their advantage.
And I think that’s a great mistake on their end.

By explicitly targeting specific demographics and meaningfully

engaging with them, Snapchat offers a variety of tangible benefits to
growing your business.

What is Snapchat?

Before we even go into how to use Snapchat to market a business,

product, or service, you should have a healthy sense of what
Snapchat is. In a nutshell: Snapchat is a globally distributed
multimedia messaging mobile application that uses video-sharing
and text to start a conversation.

Started by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown,

Snapchat is a part of Snap Inc. – a public company worth an
estimated $20 million. And there’s a good chance the company
could exceed $30 billion by 2020.
In addition to their primary product – Snapchat- Snap Inc.
continues to expand its influence in the social media space. Their
flagship product, Spectacles, is a pair of “smart glasses” that
syncs with the user’s Snapchat account and records videos as
they go about their business.
One of the core principles of Snapchat is that media recorded, the
pictures and messages, are just available temporarily before they
need user input. Snapchat was once only meant for peer-to-peer
photo sharing through platforms such as “Stories,” but has now
introduced “Discover.” Discover allows brands and media outlets
to run ad- supported content through short-form entertainment.

Snapchap is gaining traction as a new marketing outlet,

especially with the new addition of Discover. As of this February,
Snapchat has around 190 million daily active users! That’s a
huge audience to tap into.
Speaking of audiences…

Who uses Snapchat?

Snapchat is one of the most millennial-focused social media

platforms currently in use. The platform is geared toward an
appeal to those between 18 to 32, with the age sweet spot
appearing to be 24. Those who regularly use Snapchat have high
levels of engagement with the platform, even more than Twitter.
Because of the nature of Snapchat, it fosters a connection with
both brands and people. In fact, it’s that reason that makes it such
a profitable space to advertise businesses
on and see tangible results.

Since going public, Snap Inc. is keen on growing their demographic

appeal. This recent choice to go public is promising to those who
want to advertise on the platform. It also means those companies
can broaden the product and services they push on Snapchat.
“They are eventually going to tap out of these younger age groups
and will have to court older demographic groups,” said eMarketer
principal analyst Catherine Boyle to Forbes in response to
Snapchat’s demographic appeal. “They may not need Facebook-
level penetration across every age group, but growth will happen
among an older user base.”

Snapchat also is widely aware that their interface isn’t the easiest to
use for those who are new to social media.

“The onboarding experience is difficult,” chief strategist of Kuuhubb

Tero Kuittinen said of Snapchat’s account sign up to Forbes. “It’s
not easy to learn how to use it. If you’re 18, it’s not a big stretch, but
if you’re 45, it’s tough to figure out.”

Snapchat is already making stride to making the platform more

comfortable to use for those who aren’t social media savvy. And
when these older demographics do eventually become more
prominent on the platform, Snapchat will gain more traction as a
place to not only get news but see new products and consume
media.

“Older groups are now more likely to tune in [to Snapchat] for
content,” eMarketer analyst Jamie Chung said in an email to
Forbes. “The platform has multiple partnerships with television
networks for mini-episodes.
Meanwhile, the younger groups are less likely to add Snapchat
when Instagram Stories can fulfill their broadcasting needs.”

By leveraging Snapchat now, you can get ahead of the crowd and
establish a strong presence on the platform.
How to Sign up for Snapchat
Create a personal account

First, you’ll have to either log in or sign up for Snapchat. The

onboarding process is simple and industry standard: Write your first
and last name, then create a username and password, enter your
email address, and lastly your date of birth before clicking “Sign and
Accept.”

Creating this account is only for personal use but will allow you to
create a business account to use for creating Snapchat
advertisements.

2. Create a business account

Soon after doing so, you’ll come to a page that will ask you to
create a business account. You’ll be asked to do the following
before you can start building your adds:

 Write the legal name of your business

 Write Your full legal name

 Write your business email address

 Choose which country your business is based

 Choose the timezone your ads are most likely to run

 Choose the currency your ads will be paid

Once you’ve successfully filled out the criteria mentioned above,

you can officially start creating Snapchat Ads.

How to Run Ads on Snapchat

After creating a business account, you’ll have access to the

Snapchat’s “Create Ads” page. This account will allow you to run
specific ads for your business that run on particular verticals.
Companies will have the following types of adds to choose from:
Top Snaps Only, Long Form Video, Webview, Deep Link, App
Install, Camera Filter, and Story Ad.

We’ll go into the specifics of each advertisement types later one,

but all Snapchat ads share common themes and information input
you’ll need to know beforehand.
And before even thinking about building your Snapchat ad, it’s
crucial you can answer the following:

 What are the demographics your product or service best fits?

 What will be your budget for running the ad?

 How long do you want to run the ad?

 Does your content need to be age restricted?

 How do you want to pay for the ad?

 Do you want the ad to be shareable?

 Have you already written the ad’s headline?

 What’s the audience size you want to reach?

 Will your ad need to run locally, nationally, or internationally?

 Do you have the content for the ad already created?

 What are the common interests of your audiences

and consumers?

Once you have a grasp on the latter mentioned question, you’re

ready to move forward and start crafting one of Snapchat’s seven
types of ads.
1. Top Snap Only

The most popular type of ad on the platform, Snapchats Top Snap

Only Ads displays a single piece of content at the top of user’s
feeds.
Depending on the criteria and budget of your ad will determine
how many users will end up seeing it.
Top Snap Only Ads also are static, meaning that they run as
images, GIFs, or video. They do not contain clickable hyperlinks,
so you can’t directly link them to your business. However, you can
input specific URLs and other digital business characteristics in the
ad.

Top Snap Only Ads are ideal for bringing attention to events,
sales, or other single-focused topics. These types of ads aren’t
suited for a broader, more generalized introductions to your brand.
Because ad space and time are at a premium here, think about
creating short-form videos. These will allow you to grab the
audience’s attention best, while also giving you the opportunity to
build brand engagement.
In the end, Top Snap Only Ads are the best way to start advertising
on Snapchat. They’re simple, straightforward, and allow you to
begin testing the waters. After running a few campaigns, you should
have a clear sense of what your ROI (Return of Investment) is on
these ads. Use that information to craft more complex and better-
targeted ads, if your product, service, etc. calls for it.

2. Long Form Video

Long Form Video ads best suit media outlets and other media
consumption platforms. Allowing for videos that can be up to 10
minutes in total length, these Long Form Ads are ideal for bringing
attention to long forms of content. For example: If you’re looking to
advertise a web series, documentary, etc., these longer video ads
allow you to showcase snippets of more substantial pieces of
content the viewer can watch later.
Each of these ads also has “Calls to Actions,” which let the viewer
see that the video is part of a larger piece of content. However,
some web- based production companies have seen great success
running whole “mini webisodes” on these ads to attract new
viewers. Regardless of whether or not you’re running a clip or
video in its entirety, it has to be engaging within the first 15
seconds.

Research has shown that the average person generally knows if

an ad is meaningful to them within the first 15 second of seeing it.
Those brands who can capitalize on early engagement will be far
more successful than those who need “build up.”

Long-form Video Ads also lend themselves to a higher amount of

creativity than most of the platform’s other ad services. Because
creators have such a long time to craft an image, a business can
introduce storytelling aspects into these ads. Research has shown
that brands who can create themes and stories within their ethos
have greater longevity and increased product sales.
In the end, Long Form Video ads aren’t for business who aren’t
media- focused. But for those who are, there’s no better ad service
on Snapchat to convey a story, theme, or concept than by running a
well-made Long Form Video ad.

3. Web View

For business who are looking to introduce their brand, services, and
products into the world, Snapchat’s Web View ads are ideal. Unlike
the more media-based ads on the platform, these Web View ads
allow users to go to your website after viewing your ad directly.

To start, create a similar ad as you would if you were only doing a

Top Snap Only ad. This ad should be a piece of content that
engages the viewer with creative imagery and copy. The user,
unlike with Top Snap Only ads, can then “swipe up” on the ad. By
doing so, this will take the user to the web page you’ve inserted
into the ad’s “review URL” when you were building it. Make sure
the URL pertains to the ad. Businesses who misguide audience
members to irrelevant content has been shown to lose trust for
that particular brand or company. This type of linking directly
affects audience engagement in a negative and almost immediate
way.
If your website is mobile friendly, don’t forget to enable “allow
preloading.” This faster access to your ad will let your website load
faster and give users quicker access to the advertised service,
product, etc.
Because the average internet user only waits three seconds for a
web page to load before going elsewhere, quicker load times help
retain consumer engagement.
Web View ads are best for those who are looking to introduce
their business to a new audience that may not be aware of them.
Combining the visual appeal of Top Snap Only ads with
navigation to useful URLs, these ads can significantly help grow
your business on the platform.

4. Deep Link

Deep Link ads are one of the more unknown and little utilized
advertised products on Snapchat. But if used right, they can offer
the biggest bang- for-your-buck and tangible ROI. These ads
function much like Web View ads but have the added benefit of
cross-linking to various types of web- based content. The hallmark
card of the Deep Link ad is that they can navigate users directly to
the Apple Store and Google Play Store. These links allow users to
“swipe up” to go to a web-based URLs.
You’ll need to know your IOS App Store ID and have the Android
App URL for your business handy before building these. Both will
be required to plug into the ad creator, which will then embed the
direct links to those products automatically.

Because how Deep Link ads are designed to pedestal mobile

applications, only businesses that already have mobile apps
should use
them. If you haven’t yet developed mobile applications for your
business, this type of Snapchat ad isn’t right for you. However, if
your brand or company has created mobile apps, Deep Link ads
can help drive audience traffic to many destinations.
5. App Install Ad

If you’re looking to push your mobile app and not necessarily your
entire business, Snapchat’s App Install ads are great to do just
that. These avoid crowding your ad with additional URLs and links
that don’t pertain to the install.

Much like if you were to make a Deep Link Ad, you’ll need to know
your IOS App Store ID and have the Android App URLs. Both will
be required to plug into the ad creator, which will then embed the
direct links to those products automatically. It’s also a good idea to
beta run your install programs for both IOS and Android before
choosing to run an App Install Ad. If your App Install ad is
successful, you’ll see a significant spike in application downloads.
This increased traffic will put stress on the app’s backend code, so
any weak points in its structure will make themselves known now.
It might not seem like a big deal, but those weak points could be
the difference in someone being able to successfully download
your application or not.
It’s also a good idea at this point to make sure your application is
user- friendly and accessible. Because these ads push your app
aggressively, you’ll want to make sure the user interfaces,
graphics, embedded links, etc. all run well.

These types of ads also lend themselves to a more forward “Call to

Action” than others. Consider using “Install Now,” “Download Now,”
and “Download and Install” as attention-grabbing options.

When used right, App Install ads are among the best ways to get
audiences to download and use your mobile product directly.

6. Camera Filter

Arguably Snapchats most iconic advertisement product, Camera

Filter ads allow businesses to take advantage of one of Snapchat’s
favorite feature. You can run creative photo overlays that bring
attention to your business in ways few other advertising mediums
can.
These ads also do well when targeted to specific regions and age
demographics. I’ve seen and read about big and small businesses
using Camera Filter ads to bring attention to local sales, sporting
events, and other like-minded topics. And many have seen huge
spikes in engagement, sales, and audience participation from using
them in target ways. However, Camera Filter ads require a higher
level of digital design than Snapchats other advertising products.
Before uploading the filtered image, you have to consider the
following:

 Any graphics shouldn’t be too large or centered

 Choose to put more complicated designs on the sides of the
image

 Don’t create wrap-around borders

 Avoid odd and illegible fonts

 Be cohesive

 Avoid cliches and generics

 Avoid creating images for filters that are taller than 1920 pixels

 Avoid creating images for filters that are wider than 1980
pixels

 Be creative and unique

Camera Filter ads are not for those who need to follow their ad
with an outbound link or navigational link. Because these ads
solely overlay
filters on images users take, it’s best to keep the messaging behind
them concise and straightforward. Don’t overwhelm the user with
unnecessary information or busy graphics that take away from their
image.
In the end, Camera Filter ads are excellent choices for those who
wish to advertise particular events, products, and more. These tend
to do best when locally applied. For more national or state-wide ad
campaigns, I’d recommend using other broader Snapchat ad
products.

7. Story Ad

Story Ads are Snapchat’s newest advertisement product, geared

toward sharing ad content that’s grouped in a “branded tile”.
These are short and shareable advertisements that offer broad
appeal and audience interaction inside Snapchat’s Story feature.

Story Ads allows advertisers to both targets and reach their

audiences with specific on-brand tiles in Snapchat’s Discover feed.
“Snapchatters” can access a collection of these each visit to the
app. Users can choose to explore anywhere from three to twenty
Snaps per collection.
These bundles are also topically organized, allowing users to
explore new trends in fashion, latest music hits, a suite of products,
and more. Story Ads also can be designed and created in various
ways. Users can attach the following attachments on Story Ads:

 Embedded movie trailers

 Links to app installations

 Link to buy products

 Link to specific services

You’ll also want to make sure that your title image, logo, and
headline are in sync with your brand before adding them to your
Story Ads.
Below is a few more variable to consider before and during the
building your Story Ad:

 Choose a “Top Media Type” that best suits your business or

brand

 Make sure your “Top Snap Media” is not taller than 1920
pixels
 Make sure your “TopSnap Media” is not wider than 1980 pixels

 Know your Apple Store ID and Google Play Store URL, if

you want to apply link to apps

 Choose a “Play Style” that best suits your creatives used

 Enable “Shareable” to ensure you get the best exposure

possible

 Be sure to write a catchy “Headline”

Snapchat Inc. has gone on record that Story Ads is the best way to
share deeper, mobile-friendly stories and ads on the platform. But
because they require a good knowledge of the platform, I’d
recommend creating these after you’ve used other ad options.

The Next Steps

Once you get the hang of developing ads, you’ll want to make sure
that you’re Snapchat account runs like a well-oiled machine. And
just like any business tool, keeping your Snapchat account viable
and profitable will require constant innovation and upkeep. Here
are ideas and practices that will keep your Snapchat account and
ads in working order.
1. Foster and Nurture Engagement

Once you start garnering an audience from your Snapchat ads,

you’ll want to make sure they stick around. To keep your
momentum, engage with them on the platform regularly and
intensely. Share great stories, offer incentives for sharing and
interacting with your brand, and keep your Snapchat Story
consistent.

You can also advocate for your Snapchat account throughout your
other social media accounts and websites. Sharing your Snapchat
username on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even LinkedIn will
help drive traffic to you Snapchat stories and ads. You can also
embed a Snapchat widget or icon on your company page.

2. Use Snapchat to Pedal “Snap Only” Deals and promotions.

You can also use your Snapchat for creating incentives. For
instance, you can share Snapchat-only promo codes that give
customers specific deals your business is running on select
products or services. These Snapchat- only incentives will keep
your Snapchat account relevant and also keep your audience
engaged.

3. Consider Doing “Live Stories” to Help Build Brand Identity

As brands go forward into this digital world, the ones that will
succeed and become legacy brands will be the ones who have a
personality
behind them. By doing regular “Live Stories” through your
brand or businesses Snapchat account, you can give a face
to the products or services you’re offering.
If you need any more evidence of the benefits to giving your
brand a real-life presence, look no further than to Kylie
Cosmetics. In just 24 months, Kylie Jenner has leveraged
platforms like Snapchat and Instagram to create a multi-million
dollar cosmetic company. And she’s done so by not spending a
single dime on traditional advertising.

4. Consider doing Q&As

With today’s technologies and social media platforms, is possible

to get almost instantaneous feedback. Business and brands can
capitalize on this by not only reading comments, but having
regular Q&As.

Holding those Q&As done through Snapchat’s “Live Stories” can

give you feedback in real time. You, the moderator, can ask certain
brand-forward questions. As a business, you can use that real-
world data to help improve the weak points of your business and
build on your strong points.

5. Regularly Read-up on Snapchat News and Product

Happenings

Because Snapchat is changing and growing so quickly, it’s always

wise to keep your business stay up-to-date with how Snap Inc. is
continuing to evolve. Check out the News on Snapchat’s main
website. The blog also regularly highlights general market trends,
news, and practices that Snapchat is using to build their company.

6. Get familiar with Photo and Video Techniques and Editing

Software

Because Snapchat visual advertising medium, the hard work you

put into your designs, and photography and video skills won’t go
unnoticed.
Consider taking an e-course on how to edit images and videos
that you can upload to Snapchat.
You can apply the same newfound skills and create eye-
catching filter designs. If the cost of time spent on perfecting
these skills is too high, look into hiring a freelance graphic artist
to help you out.
7. Collaborate with Audience-specific Media Influencers

Consider collaborating with audience members and event media

influencers. Recently, the candy company Sour Patch Kids
attracted a significant amount of new teenage customers just by
sending their branded characters “Sweet” and “Sour” on an
adventure with Logan Paul (a prominent YouTuber and Millennial-
focused entertainer). By consciously targeting a specific
demographic and highlighting a media personality well known
within that audience, they created a brand image. And that brand
image appealed directly to the youth customers they wanted to
introduce to Sour Patch Kids.

8. Feature Your Followers

Don’t let your Snapchat feed become too promotional by only

posting your business happenings. It helps to make your feed
about your followers as well, specifically giving the loyal and vocal
ones shoutouts on your stories. Doing regular features of your
followers will help with brand identity and engagement, as well.

The Bottom Line on Advertising on Snapchat

Here’s the thing every business should take to heart: If you want
to survive in the coming years, you have to embrace the internet
model. And learning how to use social media, including Snapchat,
to advertise successfully will ensure your business and brand are
around for years.
Snapchat is continuing to grow quarter after quarter, especially as
its stock continues to soar.

Snapchat is an amazing advertising platform because it’s so

different. Unlike its contemporaries – Facebook and Twitter –
Snapchat lets you engage with your audience in real-time,
meaningful ways. You can share your brand with narratives and
creative designs.

Storytelling has always been an effective marketing tool. Snapchat

has just made it easy for you: Snap away, tell stories, and reap the
benefits of being an engaged, creative “Snapchatter.”